Within 20 years Cirque du Soleil had revenue levels that had taken Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey, the dominant global player in the circus industry, 100 years to achieve. They didn't do it by outperforming the competition but by creating uncontested market space which made the competition irrelevant. Their primary customers were adults where the circus had traditionally served children; they charged premium ticket prices where the traditional circus was set closer to the price of movie tickets. They are the classic example used by Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne to illustrate what they called, in their classic book of the same name, Blue Ocean Strategy.
They explain the idea this way: “Imagine a market universe composed of two sorts of market: red oceans and blue oceans. Red oceans represent all the industries in existence today… Blue oceans denote all the industries not in existence today.” In red oceans cutthroat competition turns the red ocean bloody. In contrast, blue oceans competition is irrelevant because the rules of the game are waiting to be set. It is true for organizations and it is true for careers.
To read the original article: What is Your Blue Ocean Career Strategy? | LinkedIn
